Last Wednesday, I had to give a speech to 150 people about taking risks. I was so nervous I had to start seeing a shrink again, and I didn’t get the final version finished til the day before. Then on Thursday, I had an emergency root canal, and yesterday I accidentally melted the monitor on my laptop with a halogen lamp. It should have been a terrible week, but I was so elated to have the speech done that the rest of it was just a shrug. I’ve been dreading giving that speech for months and months, ever since I agreed to do it. In my mind, it was like a giant boulder blocking my life path. I literally couldn’t make a plan for anything without thinking of it as pre- or post-speech. My fear kept me from starting to write it, my fear kept me from figuring out what I’d say, my fear ruined many hours by filling them with anticipation anxiety. As it turned out, the speech went beautifully. The audience seemed to love it, and my self confidence rocketed. I didn’t forget anything, I had great notes, and I had rehearsed it a gazillion times out loud beforehand–something I’d never done in the past. There are enough roadblocks that other people and random circumstances put in my path without giving them a helping hand. I need to stop creating drama trauma for my pysche. Here’s one remedy…start asking myself every Sunday what I’m looking forward in the coming week instead of what I’m dreading. I want to set out on Mondays like Walt Whitman…

It's not on a map. There's no zip code, area code, dress code. There's a honky tonk just down the road, the moon is always full, maybe there's a pecan tree in the backyard and an old red truck in the driveway, the houses are faded aqua and neon pink, Frida Kahlo is the patron saint, and I'd live here full-time if I could...this is my ode to inspiration.

Founder and former Publisher of Skirt! Magazine. Writer, editor, blue Kentucky girl exiled in South Carolina, country mouse longing for a penthouse, sometime recluse, sometime party girl.

The things that inspire me to turn off tv and turn on imagination, to get off my couch and get creative, plus bits and pieces on keeping a journal, the writing craft, collagery, photography and assorted other arty alchemy.